The present invention relates generally to electric shavers and, more particularly, to rotary electric shavers.
Rotary electric shavers conventionally include a handle and a head mounted on the handle and carrying two or more sets of paired inner and outer cutter blades. The outer cutter blades, which are typically circular in shape, are supported by a frame of the shaver head and typically define the skin contacting surface of the shaver along with the outer surface of the shaver head. Openings or slots formed in the outer cutter allow hair to protrude through the outer cutter below an inner surface thereof as the shaver is moved over a user's skin. Inner cutter blades are housed in the shaver head below the outer cutter in sliding engagement with the inner surface of the outer cutter. The inner cutter blades are rotatably driven by an electric motor, typically housed within the handle, whereby rotation of the inner cutter acts to cut hairs protruding through the outer cutter.
In current rotary electric shaver constructions, the frame and the outer cutters together define the outer skin-facing or skin-contacting surface of the shaver, with the outer cutters each extending individually outward of the frame. However, when shaving with a rotary shaver, the outer cutters must pass over the user's various skin contours. The transition of the outer cutter over the skin surface is thus often not smooth and can be abrupt. The smoother the transition is over the entire skin-facing outer surface of the shaver head (e.g., from the frame to the outer surface of the outer cutter), the more comfortable the shaving experience will be.
With this current construction, as the shaver is moved over the user's face the skin is forced up over the edges of the outer cutters. This action causes the skin to drag, or become pinched, and the shaver does not glide smoothly onto the top surface of the outer cutter.
There is a need, therefore, for a rotary electric shaver that facilitates a smoother, more comfortable shave.